Fresh pasta

By: Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi
From: Sicily
Serves: 4 as a main course or 6 as a starter

The general universal pasta recipe is: 1 egg to 100 g ‘00’ flour. In Sicily and the south of Italy the flour used is finely ground semola, semolina flour. This is a type of flour which, unlike pure white flour, also contains a little of the bran from around the outside of the wheat kernel, giving it a slightly creamy pale yellow colour. Ideally, the pasta is rolled on a wooden surface, as the tiny particles of wood that project from the surface add texture, helping the pasta to absorb the sauce that will eventually coat it. Many Italians use a tablecloth for the same purpose. To save time, the pasta dough can be made in a food processor, which is particularly useful when making coloured pasta as the blades distribute the colour evenly and quickly.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	‘00’ or very fine semolina flour, plus a little extra if necessary
2	eggs, (preferably corn-fed for colour)

Method

Pour the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well. Using a table knife, gradually mix the flour into the eggs. Keep mixing the eggs and flour together until they form a thick paste.
Use the fingertips of one hand to incorporate the rest of the flour and form a ball of dough. Discard the dry little crumbs. The dough should form a soft but firm, flexible ball. If it is still sticking to the palm of your hand, add a little more flour – but be careful to stop adding flour as soon as it stops sticking. If it’s really dry and has many cracks, add a drop or two of water – do this in a bowl or the food processor.
Knead the pasta for 5–10 minutes, or until it springs back to the touch, the colour is uniform and, when cut open, the ball of dough is full of small air bubbles; this means you have kneaded it for long enough. Leave the pasta to ‘rest’ for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day, lightly dusted with flour and wrap it in cling film (plastic wrap) to prevent it from drying out while it rests.

Tags:: Italy; Italian; Sicily; Sicilian

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